Author Jules Verne chose La Mola lighthouse, located at the far end of Formentera, for the end-of-the-world destination in his 1877 novel Off on a Comet; and so did Julio Medem for his intriguing film 'Sex and Lucia'.

Originally constructed in 1892 as a way-station for mariners seeking shelter in foggy weather, Cuckolds Light Station - now The Inn at Cuckolds Lighthouse - has since become a private island retreat off the Maine coast.

Settled in the 1780s by Quakers from Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard who needed an inland port for their whaling ships, Hudson had become an extremely busy - and at times, risky - shipping route by the time the Hudson-Athens lighthouse was constructed in 1873.

The Cape Lookout lighthouse in North Carolina is the only lighthouse in the USA to bear a checkered daymark. The centre of the black diamonds points in a north-south direction, while the centre of the white diamonds points east-west.